Pastors Notes from October 2, 2023
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“The Lord’s way is not fair,” from Ezekiel 18:25, our first reading this weekend; such grumbling seems to reflect the mindset of many. What is ‘fair’ from the standpoint of our Creator? As one spiritual writer counters, God is unconditional love, but, He is not fair. Crucially though, God is “all good” and “just” above all. “Not fair,” seems to dictate our feelings when we have difficulty witnessing the discrepancies evident in the world; especially when it affects us personally. Nonetheless, no individual is neglected of the goodness and just grace our God bestows. He isn’t a referee determining fairness in play; rather, a Creator of every element and living thing brought forth out of His Goodness, Righteousness, and Justice. Mother Teresa has an antidote for those whose faith is plagued by a sense of life’s ‘unfairness.’
*People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
*If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
*If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies; succeed anyway.
*If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
*What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
*If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
*The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
*In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
(Handwritten poem found on the wall of Mother Teresa’s room in Calcutta, where ‘fairness’ was never an objective. By her act of faith, merely and profoundly bringing forth God’s goodness, love and justice to those who desired just a thread of light in their life. )
October is Respect Life Month. Though significant legal steps have been enacted to protect the gift of life from the moment of conception, this month reminds of the continued neglect of the weak and vulnerable, the alienated and forgotten. Whether in our neighborhood, our community, the individuals seated next to us in the pew on Sunday, co-workers, or those we pass by in stores or on the street, by our presence, we can offer a certain grace of respect and caring without a word spoken. Shepherding us with his invincible concern for individuals of all walks of life, Pope Francis exhorts us to renew our understanding and efforts of the sanctity of life.
“So great is the value of a human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right… can justify a decision to terminate that life.” (Amoris laetitia, 83). “Human life must always be defended from its beginning in the womb and must be recognized as a gift of God that guarantees the future of humanity. - (Letter to Brazilian families, August, 2013). “Every life counts: from the beginning to the end, from conception to natural death “ (Jan. 2018)
“All life has inestimable value even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.” (Day for Life in Britain & Ireland, July 28, 2013) “Our defense of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, however, are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection.” (Gaudete et exsultate)
Especially this month, simple, everyday gestures of faith this may lead to a greater awareness of God’s grace within each human life as promoted a University’s website: Be kind in your thoughts. Avoid adding your ‘two cents’ worth in negative or judgmental conversations. Extend an act of patience and politeness. Listen to the other. Pause for a momentary prayer for another during your day.
God Bless, Fr. Tim
FYI: I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” (Albert Einstein)
